The Conserved House
AREA Properties. Restoring the Singapore Shophouse The “Top Down” Approach, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuDGHomVDoQ.
So, just how did the shophouse go from being an unwanted remnant of colonial Singapore, to some of the most coveted buildings around? The next couple of posts will hone in on the shophouse as a product of conservation.
The general narrative of shophouse conservation is somewhat trite as much as it is true. Given the straight-laced pragmatism of the newly independent nation, the fate of Singaporean Shophouses was indeed as described in Koolhaas’ Potemkin; hundreds of these buildings were demolished to make way for New Towns and industrial districts. In the small, land-scarce island-nation (as we often like to remind ourselves), it simply was not economical to conserve swaths of inefficient, and pre-modern buildings. It would take a paradigm shift for this urban calculus to be re-evaluated.
When I first watched this video at the National Library archive [1], it read just as much as caricature as a moment in history. The especially Chinese, Chinese classical music that plays at the start of the video, the heavy-handed emphasis on credibility and professionalism, and, of course, the choreographed scenes of labor. A caucasian expert evaluating the shophouse, accompanied by crisp-shirted Chinese men, transiting to a slightly different multi-ethnic mix of blue-collar laborers and craftsmen when it came to construction. Most importantly, the entire effort is framed as one beginning post progress, as if to say, Singapore has already progressed, so it is now okay for us to officially enshrine and elevate the past.
As authoritative as the video portrays itself, the story of conservation in Singapore was hardly as decisive, but it certainly was every bit as pragmatic as the slogan of “retain, restore, repair”. The first suggestions for conserving shophouses actually came with the 1963 UN Report by Charles Abrams, Susumu Kobe and Otto H Koenigsberger, but they simply were not heeded by the government at that time. The very first architect-planner of the Housing & Development Board and then head of its urban renewal unit, Alan Choe, was increasingly concerned by the rapid pace of housing development and urban renewal, allegedly to the point that he kept such backup conservation plans in his desk, in the oft chance that they would be requested.
After Choe, the architect and chief urban planner Liu Thai Ker, was similarly convinced of the need for conservation. The Liu that we observe in 30 years of conservation in Singapore since 1989 [2], is markedly different from the witty pragmatist portrayed in Rem’s Potemkin; in collaboration with a French construction firm, Liu would actually pioneer the first officially restored shophouse on 9 Neil Street. Whilst the entire building benefited from this restoration, it is rather telling that it was the repainted facade that captured the imagination of officials. With concerns for sustaining growth past the 1970s, a vision of rows of colorful, historic buildings certainly bode well for a future tourism economy.
However, this push for the conservation of shophouses would not pick up considerable pace until the late 1980s, when it was championed by Pamelia Lee of the Singapore Tourism Board. [2] [3] (And while yes, Lee is a very common Chinese last name, this particular Lee is in fact related to Singapore’s first prime minister; she was his sister-in-law) Inspired by a trip to conservation sites in Europe, Lee would seek out the French architect Didier Repellin for his expertise on the matter, eventually inviting him to Singapore to work on several historic buildings. Didier, then Chief Architect for Historic Monuments and Inspector General of Historic Monuments in France, would eventually be teamed with British engineer Brian Morton to pilot the conservation program for shophouses, directly resulting in the video shown above. [4]
Most of this condensed narrative has not strayed far from published URA-sanctioned histories [5], and is perhaps how one might typically present the history of the conserved shophouse. I have dug a little deeper in the archives for more nuance and detail in these histories, but I’ll save that for the next post! It is enough, however, to enable us to observe the dynamics of how conservation arrived in Singapore, and the moment of how something like the shophouse becomes codified. In the pursuit of an authentic representation of a past locality, it clearly was not just a matter of sentiment, but ultimately of economics. The very reconstruction and preservation of these physical artifacts of history was in fact a matter of export; of lasting post-colonial expertise and industry to Singapore, and of a tourist-friendly image to the rest of the world.
Urban Redevelopment Authority. The façade of 9 Neil Road before and after restoration in the 1980s, 2020. https://www.ura.gov.sg/-/media/Corporate/Resources/Publications/Books/30yrs-of-conservation.pdf?la=en
Tea Chapter. Untitled. (Undated). https://teachapter.com/about/
On a much lighter note! Here is a before-and-after image of 9 Neil Road as the result of the efforts of the Liu and the French construction firm (have yet to identify them!). Since its restoration in 1988, the shophouse has been home to the Tea Chapter, and not too long after that, in 1989, was visited by Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip!
[1] Caldecott Productions International. Restoring the Singapore Shophouse : the "Top-down" Approach. DVD. Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore, 1994.
[2] Urban Redevelopment Authority. (2020). 30 years of conservation in Singapore since 1989. Retrieved April, 2021, from https://www.ura.gov.sg/-/media/Corporate/Resources/Publications/Books/30yrs-of-conservation.pdf?la=en
[3] Morton, Brian. “Restoring Singapore Shophouses.” Restoring Singapore shophouses - Designing Buildings Wiki. Institute of Historic Building Conservation, September 1, 2016. https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Restoring_Singapore_shophouses.
[4] St. Andrew's Schools. “ALUMNA PROFILE: Pamelia Chong Lee Class of 1960.” ALUMNA PROFILE: Pamelia Chong Lee Class of 1960 | News Post. Accessed April 23, 2021. https://www.standrewsschools.org/alumnae/our-alumnae/newsletter/~post/alumna-profile-pamelia-chong-lee-class-of-1960-20180419.
[5] Kong, Lily. Conserving the Past, Creating the Future: Urban Heritage in Singapore. Singapore, Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2011.
